500 Years of Precision: The Gunmaker Crafting Firearms Since Henry VIII

Some of the most popular modern firearm companies have roots that go back nearly a millennium. While it may be difficult to pinpoint when gun production began, the first devices can be traced to when gunpowder and black powder were developed in ancient China. Gun-like gadgets were in use around 1000 BCE, but it wasn't until the 13th century that guns as we know them began to take shape.

Though many gun companies exist today, some remain the oldest weapons manufacturers in the world, with 500 years of precision, and these gunmakers crafting firearms for centuries are very practiced in their trade. They range from ancient family lineages to more modern conglomerates. (For designs that are a bit strange, explore 15 of the most unusual weapons in military history.)

To compile a list of gunmakers crafting firearms for centuries, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of firearms publications and online databases including Oldest.org, Zippia.org, and NRA Women. Weapons manufacturers with an established history and current operations existing in some form were selected. We then confirmed aspects of each manufacturer's history using sites like Pew Pew Tactical and the Library of Congress Research Guides.

Undoubtedly, one of the oldest weapons manufacturers in the world is Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta, usually shortened to just Beretta. Founded by Bartolomeo Beretta in 1526, it remains the oldest active gun maker in history. It originated in the northern Italian region known as Val Trompia, where ironworks proliferated during the Renaissance.

While the Beretta forge began operating in 1500, its first recorded transaction, for 185 arquebus barrels, took place in October of 1526. By the turn of the 18th century, Beretta became the second-largest gun barrel manufacturer in the region. From its founding until today, the same family has retained ownership.

The firm made further inroads in the early 20th century, after its Beretta Model 1918, one of the first submachine guns, was used by the Italian Army. While the various World Wars diminished Beretta's quality, the company sprung back into form in the post-war period. Along the way, Beretta acquired other large gun companies like Benelli and Franchi.

Not long after Beretta originated in Italy, the German weapons manufacturer Waffen Klett began in 1578. The southern valleys of the Thuringian Forest provided rich deposits of ore, hydropower, and charcoal, allowing for iron proliferation. Simultaneously, the nearby town of Suhl became known as a weapons hub.

Two craftsmen, Stephan and Valentin Klett, helped kick off a veritable revolution in rifle and gunmaking for the region. The high quality of their guns led to increasing orders from various parts of Europe. A family and guild name, Klett encompasses many gun makers during that period. These included Johann-Paul Klett the Elder, who introduced the first flintlock rifles in Austria, among others.

Various conflicts and wars helped spur innovations in gun-making for the Klett clan, evolving their weapons to include insert barrels, magazine rifles, and four-barreled reversible rifles. The youngest of the Kletts, Eberhard Klett, currently operates the company. It's still known for its expert quality rifles as well as its modern shooting range.

One of the oldest family-owned weapons manufacturers in the world, Sabatti also started in the Val Trompia of Italy. Founded by Lodovico Sabatti in 1674, the company quickly gained a reputation for its high-quality gun barrels and flintlock pistols.

The company remained unchanged until descendant Giuseppe Sabatti evolved the gun barrel-making technique by incorporating Damascus steel. Throughout the centuries, Sabatti survived various upheavals, wars, and periods of political unrest. Along the way, it acquired multiple forgeries in the area. Four out of ten manufacturers of gun locks belonged to Sabatti.

After World War II, Antonio Sabatti worked with weapon specialist Giuseppe Tanfoglio to create new weapons, focusing on shotgun parts. Later, the pair began producing defense pistols, before splitting the company up in 1960. That same year, Antonio Sabatti's sons refounded the company as Sabatti Spa.

The company currently specializes in rifles and shotguns used for sport shooting and hunting. Adhering to its roots, Sabatti adheres to traditional Italian gunsmithing. This means they incorporate high-grain wood and rich stock and barrel decorations.

Lorenz Sauer founded the first iteration of the J.P. Sauer & Sohn company in 1751. Hailing from the same region as Waffen Klett, Sauer grew up in a community dedicated to the expert forging iron and subsequent crafting of gun parts. While Sauer became the first company to provide weapons to the German government in 1811, it didn't gain a worldwide reputation until later in the century.

During that time, however, Sauer created various innovations in weapon manufacturing including an early iteration of shotguns called double-barrel musquets, combination guns, and backloading rifles. From the beginning of the 20th century onward, Sauer became known worldwide for its impressive list of innovations in guns and rifles.

These included kick-bolt actions, semi-automatic pistols, and single-trigger designs for double guns. World War II saw the company become an exclusive supplier to the German Army. The fallout of the war provided a time of chaos for Sauer after the Soviets seized its production plants before the U.S. Army arrived and seized its assets.

New laws on the books prevented the export of weapons, so the reformed company called SIG joined forces with the original owners J. P. Sauer & Sohn. This helped revive the company's reputation for expertly crafted gun innovations, a status they carry well into the modern day.

While many gun makers worldwide came before it, Remington Arms remains the oldest weapons manufacturer in the United States. The company was founded by Eliphalet Remington in 1816 as E. Remington and Sons.

As the story goes, Remington felt he could build a better gun than he could buy. After he entered a shooting competition with his homemade gun, observers were so impressed that they put in enough orders for his gun that it effectively entered him into the gun-making business.

By the start of World War I, Remington Arms became heavily entrenched in the US war effort. After that Remington underwent a series of buyouts, mergers, and acquisitions. Despite its best efforts, Remington declared bankruptcy in the early 21st century. This led to a buyout from Freedom Group and a subsequent remaining to Remington Outdoor.

Though the essence of the original company remains enshrouded in various companies, its weapon designs still contribute heavily to various markets. These include the US military, law enforcement, and shooting sports and hunting industries.

The makings of Colt Defense started in the United States around the time of the Mexican-American War in 1847. Started by Samuel Colt the same year as Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC, the firm found success by reinventing older pistols into multi-shot forms.

Its first mass-produced pistol, the Colt Walker, came about in 1848 and found unparalleled success. This led to later designs like the Colt Single Action Army, the Colt Python, and the Colt M1911 pistol. The M1911 quickly became the longest-used military and law enforcement service handgun.

Beyond pistols, Colt produced the majority of AR-15s and M-16s for decades. Due to its long history of providing service weapons for both military and law enforcement, Colt Manufacturing split the company into another firm. Colt Defense was born, focusing on service weapons exclusively.

Though the company reunited in 2013, its loss of the coveted M4 military contract led Colt to file for bankruptcy. Though they survived this initial collapse, the Česká zbrojovka Group bought the firm in 2021. By the following year, the new owners changed its name to the Colt CZ Group. Even still, it remains one of the oldest weapons manufacturers in the world.

It wouldn't be a list of the oldest weapons manufacturers in the world without mentioning Smith & Wesson. Daniel B. Wesson and Horace Smith founded the company in 1852 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Shortly after, the pair developed the first volcanic rifle.

With a well-developed reputation, this company's guns even saw action during the American Civil War. By 1899, the company introduced its .38 Military & Police pistol. It quickly sold in the millions and became the standard sidearm pistol of U.S. police for the next 100 years.

As the years progressed, Smith & Wesson sold parts of its company to other gun makers like Winchester. Despite this, Smith & Wesson remains the second most profitable gun maker in the world. In 2017, for example, the company shipped 7,500,000 guns worldwide.

During its tenure, Smith & Wesson introduced many classic weapons including the Smith Wesson Model 1940 Light Rifle, Smith Wesson Governor Revolver, and the Smith Wesson Bodyguard 380 Semiautomatic Pistol. (For classic ordinance, discover 33 of the most iconic weapons of WWII.)

Founder Oscar Frederick Mossberg had a long history of gun-making. After emigrating to the United States from Sweden in 1886, he gained employment at weapon makers like Arms & Cycle Works and C. S. Shattuck Arms Co. While he contributed original designs to many guns made by these firms, he wanted more. In response, he set up a gun-making shop in an old barn behind his house.

Along with his sons, Iver and Harold, Mossberg founded O. F. Mossberg & Sons in 1919. Its first product was a 22-caliber pocket pistol called the Brownie. Marketed to hunters and trappers for humane killing, the Brownie saw immediate success and allowed Mossberg to expand operations. A series of affordable 22-caliber rifles, shotguns, and rifle scopes followed.

After World War II, however, Mossberg focused its development on bolt and pump-action shotguns. Its 500 series pump-action shotgun, introduced in 1961, quickly became one of the best-selling guns in the world. The company refused to rest on its laurels and introduced its first handgun in over 100 years in 2019: the MC1sc.

Despite its name suggesting the carnage wrought by weapons, Savage Arms took its name from its founder, Arther Savage. He founded the company in Utica, New York in 1894. Though it started small, by the start of World War I, Savage Arms produced a variety of rifles, pistols, and accompanying ammunition.

While it began vying for lucrative government and war effort contracts, Savage Arms found middling success until World War II. After winning a bid, the company began producing most of the Thomas Submachine guns used in combat.

During peacetime, Savage Arms gained a reputation for weapons focused on hunting and domestic needs. Some products introduced include shotguns, centerfire rifles, rimfire rifles, and single-shot rifles. During this time, Savage Arms expanded its business into Canada.

It was an economic move, however, as nearly 100% of its Canadian-made guns saw export to the United States. In 2019, Vista Outdoor bought Savage Arms for a restructuring strategy.

Another one of the oldest weapons manufacturers in the world is FNS, also known as FN Herstal. Henri Pieper founded the company in 1889 in the small Belgian town of Herstal near Liege. Unlike other companies on this list, FN Herstal was formed specifically to make 150,000 Mauser Model 89 rifles for the Belgian government.

The company expanded its offerings in the following years, producing a series of well-received automobiles and motorcycles. To account for its variety of products, the company renamed itself Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal. Throughout its history, FNS created a series of remarkably well-received weapons including the FN TPS, FN Special Police Rifle, the Barracuda, and the Double Action multi-caliber revolver.

Besides being one of the oldest weapons manufacturers in the world, FNS remains a best-selling weapons maker, exporting guns to over 100 countries. This also makes them the number one exporter of military arms across Europe. Controversially, its Model 1910 semi-automatic pistol was one of the guns used to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, igniting World War I.

While Taurus Armas S.A. started as a tool and dye forging plant in 1939, it slowly but surely expanded its offering to include a variety of weapons and firearms. It produced its first gun, the Model 38101SO in 1941.

A few decades later, the parent company of Smith & Wesson, Bangor Punta Corporation, purchased a controlling stock of Taurus. This failed to take, however, and Taurus bought back its company by the end of the 1970s. To expand, Taurus bought Beretta's Brazilian-based factory and weapons schematics to create its unique line of pistols.

Taurus Armas S.A. was on the hunt for a bigger market share, which resulted in the creation of its Taurus International Manufacturing Incorporated subsidiary. This led to a series of polymer-frame pistols, submachine guns, revolvers, and rifles. Some of its best-known guns include the Taurus CT G2 carbine, the Taurus Model 82 .38 Special, the Taurus PT 915, and the Taurus Millennium Series.

As the largest Latin American gun brand, Taurus provides weapons to the Brazilian military and law enforcement apparatuses.

Though it is one of the newer weapons manufacturers, Barrett Firearms has been grandfathered into the industry. Ronnie Barrett started the company in 1982 in Christiana, Tennessee, to create semi-automatic rifles to hold .50 BMG ammunition. That same year, the company introduced its M82 rifle, with every part of the gun hand-crafted by Ronnie Barrett himself.

Sales were slow rolling, however, until 1989 when the United States government bought the M82 and deployed it in the Gulf War. More unseemly elements also favored the M82, however. It became the preferred rifle of the Irish Republican Army, who used the gun to conduct a sniper campaign against British forces in the 1990s.

Throughout the years, Barrett kept its purpose focused on the firearm industry and military assets. After California banned civilian ownership of .50 BMG rifles, Barrett suspended sales for all California law enforcement. A few years later, Tennessee named the M82 the official state rifle. Though sales remained high, Australian defense contractor NIOA bought Barrett Firearms in 2023.

Engineers Alex Seidel, Theodor Koch, and Edmund Heckler founded the Heckler & Koch company in 1949. Initially, the trio set up shop in an abandoned Mauser factory in Oberndorf. For nearly a decade, the company exclusively produced machine tools and metal parts.

However, in response to a lucrative Bundeswehr contract for a new service rifle in 1956, Heckler & Koch entered the gun-making business. It ended up winning the contract with its Heckler & Koch G3 rifle. Due to the success of its initial gun offering, the company expanded to meet the needs of both law enforcement and hunters.

As the company released more guns, more government contracts kept coming in. After Heckler & Koch won a major gun contract for the US Department of Homeland Security, it became the single largest handgun procurement contract in United States history.

Some of its best-known weapons include the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, the HK PSG1, and the HK P2000. While it sells a significant amount of guns to countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, Heckler & Koch remains the most successful current German weapons manufacturer.

Over 50 years ago, Elmer C. Ballance founded the Springfield Armory, Inc. Taking its name from the legendary armory in Springfield, Massachusetts used by the United States during wartime, the company dedicated itself to the first civilian production of the M14 rifle.

After Ballance moved the company from San Antonio to Devine, Texas, he sold it to Bob Reese and his family. From there, the company quickly took off, expanding its offerings to include AR-pattern SAINT rifles and pistols. While the brand tailors heavily to the defense industry, it also sells its guns to law enforcement, hunting enthusiasts, and civilians looking for home protection.

Their best-known guns include the Springfield Armory 911, the Springfield Armory M6 Scout, and the Springfield Armory P9. For its well-machined weapons, the company has won the American Rifleman's Golden Bullseye Award via the National Rifle Association four times in a row.

Keeping with its classic theme, its motto is "The First Name in American Firearms," which pays homage to the original Springfield Armory in Massachusetts.

Perhaps one of the most well-known weapons manufacturers on this list is the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Oliver Winchester founded the company in 1866, making it one of the oldest weapons manufacturers in the world. While its first design became the Henry Rifle, this product was refined and improved before seeing release as the Model 1866.

After that, Winchester introduced the Model 1873, which became so popular it developed a reputation as the "Gun That Won the West." After Oliver Winchester died in 1880, his son William Wirt Winchester took over the company before dying of tuberculosis only four months later.

Though gunmaker John Browning had previously worked with Winchester, by the turn of the 20th century, Browning and Winchester entered a literal arms race to produce the best and most accessible weapons. By the 1930s, Winchester Repeating Arms Company entered a receivership before being bought by the Western Cartridge Company.

Nevertheless, its weapons still bear the Winchester name and trademark. In a strange bit of trivia, William Wirt Winchester's wife Sarah, used her inheritance from the company to build the labyrinthine and supposedly haunted Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. (For the firearm connoisseurs, discover 15 of the biggest gun collections ever.)